List of Soccer Moves

Steve Silverman

About the Author:

Steve Silverman

Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.

A high angle view of a boy playing with a soccer ball on a field.
(Image: Michael Blann/Photodisc/Getty Images)

Soccer is a game of athleticism and conditioning. These are the foundations of the game. If you go out on the field without them, you will fall hopelessly behind and won't be able to compete. The game requires multiple skills, including the ability to advance the ball upfield by dribbling and passing. These moves are essential to success in the game.

Pull Back

This is one of the first moves any soccer player learns. Begin with the ball between your feet. Fake as though you are going to kick the ball forward, but instead, put the bottom of your shoe on top of the ball and roll it back to you. This will create space between you and the defender, who has bought into your original fake and is running downfield. This can allow you to make a move in another direction since you have created space between yourself and the defender and you have time to advance the ball.

Chop

Dribble forward to start the chop move. Give the ball a bit of a push forward, then plant your left leg (for right-footed players) as if you were preparing to take a power shot or a cross. Continue the look of shooting by winding up with your right leg and left arm. Instead of blasting the ball, chop across it and send it parallel to a teammate who is open for a shot or who can send it back to you as you run to an open area.

Stop and Go

This is a move to make when you are dribbling the ball downfield and you want to lose the defender who is marking you closely. If you are going at top speed for at least 15 yards and you have not been able to open up any space, stop immediately and use your dominant foot to control and stop the ball. As soon as the ball is under control, take that foot and change your angle of advance. You are still going downfield, but you are changing direction. If you are on the right side of the field, cut hard to the left. It will take your defender at least a second to react, giving you time to pass to an open teammate or cut to the goal for a shot.